Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The British House of Lords has passed the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 199 - 68. The regulations will outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services - meaning that in Northern Ireland at least people won't be able to refuse to rent you a house or provide healthcare simply because you are gay (or straight, for that matter). The regulations will be extended to the rest of the UK later in the year.

Naturally, this has precipitated the usual religious backlash, with extremist Christians, Muslims and Jews united in bigotry and homophobia. Meanwhile, their more mainstream compatriots look on from the sidelines in silent but deniable approval (not so silent or deniable in the case of some Bishops, it seems). If anyone was wondering why 82% of UKanians believe that religion is a cause of division and tension between people, this is one reason. When religion speaks nowdays, it is too often a voice of hate, trying to exclude people from society, seeking tolerance only for themselves. While there are decent and liberal religious people, they don't seem to be speaking up about it and making it clear that their god isn't about hatred.

Lord Ferrers in the last debate said hospitals should be allowed to discriminate if they had a Christian ethos. Does that mean they do now? Are they turning away gay Aids patients? He said a pro-life Catholic hospital should be allowed to turn away a lesbian for fertility treatment. (Though any non-Catholic turning to Catholics for fertility treatment needs their head examined.) The Catholic adoption society said it will shut up shop if it has to allow gay couples to apply. Churches say they will never let out a hall to a gay organisation. Christians running soup kitchens say they want to refuse gays shelter and soup. (Soup!) The Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool threatens to withdraw all cooperation over schools and charity programmes if the law goes through. The Bishop of Rochester says it will damage church work in inner cities. (Only if his church shuts down services.) The C of E pretends that the law would force it to bless civil unions (it won't).

Listen to all these good reasons why the state should step back from its current infatuation with faith provision of social services. In a democracy, public services paid for out of general taxes can't be held to ransom by the weird sexual fantasies of unelected service providers.

(Emphasis added)

I couldn't agree more. If social service agencies aren't willing to comply fully with anti-discrimination law, they shouldn't be receiving state funding.

5
comments:

Lord Ferrers... said a pro-life Catholic hospital should be allowed to turn away a lesbian for fertility treatment.

Whereas the state should strive always to set a good example, a privately run, privately funded organisation such as a hospital has a moral right to discriminate against whomsoever it pleases. That's the libertarian view, and it's a bloody good one.
Posted by
Richard
:
1/10/2007 07:25:00 PM

A Catholic hospital that receives state funding (should such a beast exist), however, should be obliged to serve everybody. Or else, I believe the vernacular goes, "pay it back".
Posted by
Anonymous
:
1/10/2007 10:55:00 PM

One response to this nonsense from Simon Wilson, a committed Liberal UK Christian might be of interest.

http://revsimonwilson.blogspot.com/2007/01/not-in-my-name.html

He references mainstream Christian initiatives that favour the legislation, such as the Faithworks movement...

As far as the anti-abortion Catholic hospital goes, one Australian Catholic hospital is denying rape survivors the right to emergency contraceptive access through referral to alternative medical services. Fortunately, the Code of Health and Disability Consumers Rights obliges their equivalents here to do so...